Aircraft may occasionally operate in environments having high concentrations of ice. In these environments, ice can buildup on the aircraft, sensors and engines. Ice buildup that becomes dislodged and moves into an engine of the aircraft can damage the engine or otherwise cause the engine to become unstable. Ice buildup on the engine that does not become dislodged can block airflow to the engine and cause power loss, for example.
As known, anti-icing activities can reduce the likelihood of ice buildup. For example, a pilot of the aircraft may open an anti-icing bleed on the engine if flying through an environment having a high concentration of ice. Anti-icing activities do have drawbacks. For example, anti-icing activities may decrease the overall efficiency of the engine. Because of their drawbacks, anti-icing activities are typically initiated only after detecting environmental conditions likely to contain ice.
Accurately detecting environmental conditions likely to contain ice is sometimes difficult. For example, some types of ice, such as High Altitude Ice Crystals, cannot be detected with currently available ice detection systems. Anti-icing activities are not initiated because they exist in atmospheric conditions that are not normally associated with environments likely to contain ice. Additionally, conventional anti-icing strategies available to date on aircraft have limited or no effect on this type of ice accretion. Relying on pilots to visually identify High Altitude Ice Crystals is highly unreliable.